Hearing

Catch every word, sign, or signal.

Man using sign language with MacBook

BetaLive Captions

Read along to stay in the know.

Captions can help everyone, including users who are deaf or hard of hearing. The new Live Captions feature offers real-time, on-device-generated transcriptions of conversations, so you can follow along with auditory and visual media including Phone calls, FaceTime calls, and content from the web securely on your device.1 They can even capture and caption live, in-person speech. When using Live Captions on Mac, you have the option to use Type to Speak to type out your responses and have them read out loud in real time for others in the conversation.2 You can also customize the Live Captions window so that the size, placement, fonts, and colors suit your individual needs.3

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Beta

Captions can help everyone, including users who are deaf or hard of hearing. The new Live Captions feature offers real-time, on-device-generated transcriptions of conversations, so you can follow along with auditory and visual media including Phone calls, FaceTime calls, and content from the web securely on your device.1 They can even capture and caption live, in-person speech. When using Live Captions on Mac, you have the option to use Type to Speak to type out your responses and have them read out loud in real time for others in the conversation.2 You can also customize the Live Captions window so that the size, placement, fonts, and colors suit your individual needs.3

Set up Live Captions on:

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Conversation Boost

Make clearer connections.

Conversation Boost is a feature for AirPods Pro that can help you stay more connected in crowded or noisy environments. Computational audio and beamforming microphones focus AirPods Pro on the voice of the person directly in front of you, helping you distinguish their speech from background noise and follow along better during face‑to‑face conversations in loud locations.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, AirPods Pro

Conversation Boost is a feature for AirPods Pro that can help you stay more connected in crowded or noisy environments. Computational audio and beamforming microphones focus AirPods Pro on the voice of the person directly in front of you, helping you distinguish their speech from background noise and follow along better during face‑to‑face conversations in loud locations.

Set up Conversation Boost on:

Made for iPhone hearing devices

Designed to just work. Wherever your day takes you.

Apple has worked with top manufacturers to create hearing aids, cochlear implants, and sound processors designed specifically for iPhone and iPad. These advanced hearing devices provide outstanding sound quality, offer many helpful features, and are as easy to set up and use as any other Bluetooth device. Instantly apply your audiologist’s environmental presets as you go outdoors or enter noisy locations, like restaurants, without having to rely on additional remotes. When using Made for iPhone hearing devices, you can have Siri announce notifications from your iPhone or iPad.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad

Apple has worked with top manufacturers to create hearing aids, cochlear implants, and sound processors designed specifically for iPhone and iPad. These advanced hearing devices provide outstanding sound quality, offer many helpful features, and are as easy to set up and use as any other Bluetooth device. Instantly apply your audiologist’s environmental presets as you go outdoors or enter noisy locations, like restaurants, without having to rely on additional remotes. When using Made for iPhone hearing devices, you can have Siri announce notifications from your iPhone or iPad.

Set up Made for iPhone hearing devices on:

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Update:

Siri Announce Notifications for hearing devices. Made for iPhone hearing device users now have the option to use Siri to announce notifications for iPhone and iPad.

Headphone Accommodations

Customize your headphones to your hearing needs.

Whether you’re listening to music, watching a movie, or talking to a loved one, Headphone Accommodations lets you customize your audio to best suit your hearing needs. Amplify soft sounds and adjust certain sound frequencies based on your individual preferences. If you already have an audiogram, you can import it from a paper or a PDF. If not, you’ll walk through a series of listening tests that help you set up as many as nine unique profiles based on your personal sound preferences.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, AirPods, EarPods, Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro, Beats Solo Pro

Whether you’re listening to music, watching a movie, or talking to a loved one, Headphone Accommodations lets you customize your audio to best suit your hearing needs. Amplify soft sounds and adjust certain sound frequencies based on your individual preferences. If you already have an audiogram, you can import it from a paper or a PDF. If not, you’ll walk through a series of listening tests that help you set up as many as nine unique profiles based on your personal sound preferences.

Set up Headphone Accommodations on:

Update:

Import audiograms into the Health app. Customize your audio experience to your hearing needs by importing your audiogram directly into the Health app.

Sound Recognition

Sound the alarm without hearing a sound.

Sound Recognition listens for certain sounds and uses on‑device intelligence to notify you when they are detected. This feature recognizes 15 different sounds — or you can train your device to listen for electronic sounds that are unique to your environment, like the beeping of appliances in your kitchen, specific types of alarms, or doorbells. You’ll receive a notification when a particular type of sound or alert is detected.4

Available on:

iPhone, iPad

Sound Recognition listens for certain sounds and uses on‑device intelligence to notify you when they are detected. This feature recognizes 15 different sounds — or you can train your device to listen for electronic sounds that are unique to your environment, like the beeping of appliances in your kitchen, specific types of alarms, or doorbells. You’ll receive a notification when a particular type of sound or alert is detected.4

Set up Sound Recognition on:

Update:

Additional customization for Sound Recognition. Train your iPhone and iPad to listen for and notify you when certain electronic sounds that are specific to your environment are detected, like the beeping of a kitchen appliance, the ring of a doorbell, and more.

FaceTime

Capture speech and sign. All in real time.

FaceTime is a great way to communicate using sign language. With high‑quality video and a fast frame rate, FaceTime helps you catch every gesture and facial expression — from raised eyebrow to ear‑to‑ear smile. Now staying connected is even easier with Live Captions in FaceTime, which can caption speech in one-on-one and Group FaceTime calls in real time.* Live Captions in FaceTime are integrated right into your video call, and offer speaker attribution so you can easily track who is speaking during group calls with family and friends.1 FaceTime also detects when you are using sign language in Group FaceTime calls and automatically makes you prominent.5 And with Picture in Picture for FaceTime, you can continue viewing your call while multitasking.6

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

FaceTime is a great way to communicate using sign language. With high‑quality video and a fast frame rate, FaceTime helps you catch every gesture and facial expression — from raised eyebrow to ear‑to‑ear smile. Now staying connected is even easier with Live Captions in FaceTime, which can caption speech in one-on-one and Group FaceTime calls in real time.* Live Captions in FaceTime are integrated right into your video call, and offer speaker attribution so you can easily track who is speaking during group calls with family and friends.1 FaceTime also detects when you are using sign language in Group FaceTime calls and automatically makes you prominent.5 And with Picture in Picture for FaceTime, you can continue viewing your call while multitasking.6

Set up FaceTime on:

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Update:

Live Captions in FaceTime. Live Captions in FaceTime help you follow along with your one-on-one or Group FaceTime video conversations more easily in loud environments. Real-time live captions can be controlled directly through the FaceTime video call canvas for convenience.

Live Listen

Tune out the noise
and hear more of what matters.

Live Listen is an assistive listening feature that helps you have better conversations in loud places. Just turn on the feature and move your device toward the people you’re talking with. Audio is picked up by the device microphone and sent to your wireless headphones or Made for iPhone hearing devices, so you can hear what they’re saying more clearly.7

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, AirPods, Powerbeats Pro, Beats Fit Pro, Made for iPhone hearing devices

Live Listen is an assistive listening feature that helps you have better conversations in loud places. Just turn on the feature and move your device toward the people you’re talking with. Audio is picked up by the device microphone and sent to your wireless headphones or Made for iPhone hearing devices, so you can hear what they’re saying more clearly.7

Set up Live Listen on:

Sensory Alerts

See your alerts.
Or feel them.

Your device lets you know when something’s up, in a way you’ll notice. Choose visual or vibrating alerts for incoming Phone and FaceTime calls, new text messages, new and sent mail, and calendar events. You can set an LED light flash for incoming calls or have your iPhone display a photo of the caller. If you’re on your Mac, have it flash its screen when an app needs your attention. Or if you’re on the go, turn on the Taptic Engine on your Apple Watch to give you a gentle tap every time a notification comes in.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch

Your device lets you know when something’s up, in a way you’ll notice. Choose visual or vibrating alerts for incoming Phone and FaceTime calls, new text messages, new and sent mail, and calendar events. You can set an LED light flash for incoming calls or have your iPhone display a photo of the caller. If you’re on your Mac, have it flash its screen when an app needs your attention. Or if you’re on the go, turn on the Taptic Engine on your Apple Watch to give you a gentle tap every time a notification comes in.

Set up Sensory Alerts on:

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Tell time with haptic feedback on Apple Watch

Real‑Time Text (RTT)

Make and receive RTT calls right on your device.

Use your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch to make and receive RTT calls.8 Standard texting involves composing an entire message and tapping Send, but RTT provides instant transmission of a message as it is being composed (as well as support for braille displays). Live Captions can also be used with RTT to automatically display captions during Phone calls. Transcripts for RTT calls are saved in your call history.9

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch

Real‑Time Text (RTT)

Use your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch to make and receive RTT calls.8 Standard texting involves composing an entire message and tapping Send, but RTT provides instant transmission of a message as it is being composed (as well as support for braille displays). Live Captions can also be used with RTT to automatically display captions during Phone calls. Transcripts for RTT calls are saved in your call history.9

Set up RTT on:

Go deeper:

Make and receive RTT calls in FaceTime on Mac

Update:

Live Captions in Real-Time Text. Automatically display Live Captions alongside RTT messages during a Phone call.10

Mono Audio

Find the right balance for you.

Stereo recordings usually have distinct left- and right-channel audio tracks. Mono Audio can help streamline the differences by playing both audio channels in both ears. You can adjust the balance for greater volume in either ear, so you won’t miss a single note of a concerto or word of an audiobook.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

Stereo recordings usually have distinct left- and right-channel audio tracks. Mono Audio can help streamline the differences by playing both audio channels in both ears. You can adjust the balance for greater volume in either ear, so you won’t miss a single note of a concerto or word of an audiobook.

Set up Mono Audio on:

Closed Captions

Customizable captions for movies, TV shows, and podcasts.

Closed captions are a text transcription of a video’s dialogue, as well as nonverbal communication, music, and sound effects. Supported in apps like the Apple TV app, closed captions are available in more than 40 languages for movies, TV shows, videos, and podcasts — just look for the CC icon. Customize captions with different styles and fonts, including styles that are larger and outlined for better legibility.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV

Closed captions are a text transcription of a video’s dialogue, as well as nonverbal communication, music, and sound effects. Supported in apps like the Apple TV app, closed captions are available in more than 40 languages for movies, TV shows, videos, and podcasts — just look for the CC icon. Customize captions with different styles and fonts, including styles that are larger and outlined for better legibility.

Set up Closed Captions on:

Messages

Chat through type, photos, smileys, and more.

Start a conversation without needing to say or hear a word. Send unlimited messages to anyone using the Messages app. Or send a group message to keep everyone in the loop. You can share photos, videos, locations, links, or the occasional smiley.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch

Start a conversation without needing to say or hear a word. Send unlimited messages to anyone using the Messages app. Or send a group message to keep everyone in the loop. You can share photos, videos, locations, links, or the occasional smiley.

Set up Messages on:

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Noise app

Track your hearing health.

The Noise app tracks decibel levels of the ambient sounds around you, helping you identify when sound levels in your environment, or from your headphones, could negatively affect your hearing. When you configure the Noise app on Apple Watch and connect compatible headphones, Control Center shows you if the sounds playing through the headphones reach unsafe levels.11 And all your information is stored in the Health app on iPhone for easy access to your data whenever you need it.

Available on:

Apple Watch

The Noise app tracks decibel levels of the ambient sounds around you, helping you identify when sound levels in your environment, or from your headphones, could negatively affect your hearing. When you configure the Noise app on Apple Watch and connect compatible headphones, Control Center shows you if the sounds playing through the headphones reach unsafe levels.11 And all your information is stored in the Health app on iPhone for easy access to your data whenever you need it.

Set up the Noise app on:

Apple Watch

Siri

Your digital assistant is ready. Just type the word.

Siri, your digital assistant, can help you with the things you do every day — all through your keyboard. Type to Siri makes it easy to get the help you need right away, even on your Apple Watch. Interact with Siri using the keyboard and text field on Apple Watch. Ask questions, set up reminders, issue commands, and more.12 Made for iPhone hearing devices can also use Siri to announce notifications for iPhone and iPad.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, AirPods

Siri, your digital assistant, can help you with the things you do every day — all through your keyboard. Type to Siri makes it easy to get the help you need right away, even on your Apple Watch. Interact with Siri using the keyboard and text field on Apple Watch. Ask questions, set up reminders, issue commands, and more.12 Made for iPhone hearing devices can also use Siri to announce notifications for iPhone and iPad.

Set up Siri on:

Updates:

Type to Siri on Apple Watch. Apple Watch now supports Type to Siri. Use the onscreen keyboard and text field on your watch to interact with Siri.

Siri Announce Notifications for hearing devices. Made for iPhone hearing device users can use Siri to announce notifications for iPhone and iPad.

Siri pause time. Now you can adjust the time between your questions and responses from Siri.

End calls with Siri. When you’re ready to finish your Phone or FaceTime call, just say or type “hang up.”13

Switch auto-answer for calls. Use Siri to switch auto-answer for Phone and FaceTime calls on or off.

Get more out of your features.

Learn tips, tricks, and how-tos for hearing features straight from Apple Support on YouTube.

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Discover more about Apple accessibility features.

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